Official UDS-O group photo and personal photo set

After 8544 miles traveled, 16 days on the road, 40 GB of RAW photos, and two days of post-travel coma, I’ve posted the official group photos and my personal photo set from Ubuntu Developer Summit Oneiric Ocelot (UDS-O) which took place at the opulent Corinthia Hotel Budapest (formerly Grand Hotel Royal), Budapest, Hungary, EU (9th – 13th May 2011). UDS was insanely hectic as usual trying to keep everything running smoothly behind the scenes. Luckily there were enough lulls to give me a chance to meet a bunch of new faces and catch up on some of my favorite projects.

UDS-O photos cc by-sa 2011 Sean Sosik-Hamor (prints can be ordered by clicking the Buy button in the gallery):

Unlike UDS-N in Orlando where I found out on short notice that I would be the official photographer I came a bit more prepared this time toting my EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM on top of the usual EOS-1D Mark IV, EF 50mm f/1.2L USM, and pair of 580EX II Speedlites that permanently live in the Fastpack 350 that always accompanies me everywhere. Immediately upon arriving at the hotel and checking in I scouted locations and found a gorgeous spot to take the group photo shooting down from the fifth floor catwalk into the Southeast atrium bathed natural light from the skylights and six-story street-facing glass wall.

Unfortunately the hotel staff disagreed with my selection and pushed us into the lobby spilling up the main staircase when it came time to actually shoot the group photo. This location was less than ideal forcing me to shoot at a strange angle from an offset second floor guest room window overlooking the lobby with mixed tungsten, CFL, sunlight, and shadow.

This required a bit of pre-planning and creativity to make sure everyone would be in the photo and wouldn’t be blocked by pedestals or balconies. Liberal use of pink highvis gaffer tape on the floor to mark the boundaries of the frame and verbal instruction (if you can’t see my lens then I can’t see you) seems to have ensured that everyone actually got into the photo…including some creative trolls folks who made their way up to the first floor balconies!

The rest of the photos shot throughout the week were dead-simple and accomplished by utilizing natural light or by dragging the shutter with on-camera bounce flash with catchlight panel. While the more difficult nighttime outdoor bar and cafe photos had the Speedlite pointing straight up into the air with only the catchlight panel bathing the subject with fill flash, the indoor Orfeum Club photos also utilized a strategically-placed remote Speedlite and glass ceiling to create some interesting effects.